Photography by Brandon Cody
In its third year of existence, the Turn 14 Distribution x Canibeat Car Meet presented by KW Suspension is turning into a destination event in the Philadelphia area. Held on June 15, 2019, the something-for-everyone show offers attendees an experience that isn’t offered at most other car shows in the region. Turn 14 Distribution’s Pennsylvania distribution center provides the setting; its vast parking accommodates more than 250 cars and offers plenty of space for vendor displays. The company invites several of its vendors to the Meet, and invests considerable resources into the event to make sure it’s a good time for everyone who shows up.
Over the previous two years, the Turn 14 Distribution staff discovered several improvements to make for attendees, especially regarding ingress and egress, and set out to pre-register as many cars as possible for this year to ease some of the congestion getting into the parking lot. The goal of this was to maximize everyone’s time at the event, so that they could see the cars populating every square inch of the parking lot.
Two food trucks—2 Street Sammies and Stuff’d Buns—along with Petrucci’s Homemade Ice Cream were on the property, giving attendees a chance to satisfy their hunger and sweet tooth within a 25-foot radius.
The massive group of vendors lined the entire front of the property; nearly every one had a display vehicle showing off their parts and pieces designed to make a vehicle go fast, look good, and sound good in the process.
The list of vendors included: AKRAPOVIČ, Air Lift Performance, Air Lift, AWE Tuning, BBS, BMR Suspension, Canibeat, Crown SpeedLab, CSF Radiators, Edelbrock Performance, fifteen52, FOX, Fleece Performance Engineering, Gear One Performance, KW Suspensions, Lund International, Mackin Industries Inc., RavSpec RaceWorks, Manley Performance Products, Mishimoto Automotive, Rolling Big Power, R/T Tuning, Subimods.com, Thompson Performance Group, Vibrant Performance, and Wilwood Disc Brakes. Each company was on-hand to answer questions and show off their newest parts and components.
One of the things I found most interesting about the show was the wide variety of vehicles on-hand. While the quantity of vehicles skewed toward Modern Performance and European rides, I saw several impressive domestic cars and trucks that caught my eye. I don’t think anyone left unfulfilled, and I was especially impressed to see so many people from different walks of life at the Car Meet: old, young, male, female—all came together to enjoy a common interest on a beautiful day.
The older I get, the more I appreciate the variety of vehicles at a show like this. While massive niche car shows can be fun (I’m looking at you, American Muscle) after a while the cars all blend into one another as many of them have the same modifications, and it’s sometimes difficult to spot those which stick out above the rest.
But one vehicle which caught everyone’s eye—especially those of the judges—was the amazing 1973 BMW E9 3.0 CSL Group 4 tribute car of Willy Izaguirre, which I found nestled in the Vibrant Performance booth. The car is a super-cool take on the old Group 4 racers and uses an S52 inline-six engine swiped form an E36 M3, augmented with a 6266 turbocharger, stitch-welded body panels, and a ton of other modifications. From every angle, this car’s just beautiful.
Ultimately, it was given the Best Overall award, and if you looked at it on the day of the event you’d never realize that it was in full primer on the Thursday before the show, and Willy stayed up for 30 hours straight getting the pigment sprayed onto the car and just right for the Meet. Don’t believe me? Check out his Instagram and see for yourself.
The Modern Performance award went to Franklin Perez’s well-executed ‘05 S2000, which wears a full complement of Spoon Sports aero pieces and Volk Racing CE28 wheels. Best Truck was given to Darrell Reilly’s Toyota pickup—which he says is stored outside and driven everywhere possible in the summer—while Best Domestic went to Rod Sassaman’s 1970 Mustang for the second year in a row. And if you can believe it, Best European Performance award winner Mark Gama’s gorgeous facelifted Work Rezax-wearing 1998 7-series does not roll on air suspension of any type.
There were several Turn 14 employee cars on the property; nearly everyone who works at the company has an enthusiast vehicle of some type.
By quitting time, it was obvious to me that all had a good time—with tasty eats, nice cars, beautiful, moisture-free weather, and a fun vibe, how could they not? We look forward to doing it again in 2020.
And although you have to wait an entire year for another Turn 14 Distribution x Canibeat Car Meet, Front Street is hosting its Cars and Coffee every third Saturday of the month through September 2019. Like and follow the Front Street Facebook page for more details, and to see our newest articles as they publish.
Gallery